ACS Award for Encouraging Disadvantaged Students into Careers in the Chemical Sciences: Jani C. Ingram

Citation: For her outstanding accomplishments in recruiting and mentoring students from underrepresented groups, especially American Indians and Alaskan Natives, into professional careers in chemistry.

Current position: professor of chemistry and biochemistry, Northern Arizona University

Education: B.S., chemistry, New Mexico State University; Ph.D., chemistry, University of Arizona

Ingram on what she hopes to accomplish in the next decade:“I hope to see the number of Native Americans with Ph.D.s in chemistry increase by a factor of 100. There are not many of us now, so I believe that such a large increase is possible with the opportunities that exist as well as the issues that need to be addressed by people within Native American communities.”

What her colleagues say:“American Indian and Alaskan Native (AIAN) professionals are the most severely underrepresented U.S. racial or ethnic group in STEM disciplines, and successful degree completion for even a few individuals can impact national totals. Over her time at NAU, Dr. Ingram has directly or indirectly recruited and mentored more than 200 AIAN students in chemistry and related STEM disciplines, at both undergraduate and graduate levels. Her identity as one of a handful of our native faculty in the sciences has been a magnet for minority students, and her insights into academic and cultural barriers have shaped her highly effective approach to mentoring.”—Laura Foster Huenneke, Northern Arizona University